President of the Republic of Mongolia His Excellency Mr. Khaltmaagiin Battulga paid a visit to India from 19-23 September 2019. He was received by Union Sports minister Kiren Rijiju and was given a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi on his arrival. It is the first state visit by a Mongolian president in the last 10 years.
- Mongolian delegation: Khaltmaagiin Battulga was accompanied by Foreign Minister Mr. DamdinTsogtbaatar, Mr. ByambasurenEnkhamgalan, Minister of Road & Transport Development, other senior officials, along with a 25-member business delegation.
The details of the visit are as follows:
Important MoUs signed:
The two nations signed 4 Memoranda of Understandings(MoU). They are
| MoU | Purpose |
| CulturalExchangeProtocol from 2019-2023 | For promoting cooperation and cultural exchanges in the field of dance, art, music, library, museums etc. Indian side announced 10 ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) scholarships to Mongolian students wishing to undertake Buddhist monastic studies in India, while the Mongolian side announced two scholarships for Indian students interested in pursuing Mongolian studies. |
| Disaster Management and Disaster Risk Reduction. | For cooperation and collaboration to perform in situations of disaster signed between National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) of Mongolia and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of India |
| Cooperation and Usage of Outer Space for peaceful and civilian purposes. | For promoting cooperation in space exploration for peaceful and civilian purposes. between Deptt of Space (India) and Communications and Information Technology Authority (Mongolia). |
| Comprehensive Work Plan for cooperation in the field of Animal Health and Dairy. | Based on the 2015 Agreement between India and Mongolia on cooperation in the field of Animal Health and Dairy, the Work Plan lays out a series of activities to intensify the cooperation. |
Joint unveiling of Buddha statue:
- Shri Modi and Battulga, jointly unveiled a statue of Lord Buddha and his two disciples, installed at the historic Gandan Tegchenling Monastery in Ulaanbaatar through video conference via remote.Modi on his last visit to GandanTegchenling Monastery in 2015, announced to gift Buddha statue linking the Buddhist heritage and civilization of both nations.
- Gangajal gift: Prime Minister Modi gifted a Kalash of Gangajal to be poured into the ‘Ganganuur’ lake of Mongolia to the Mongolian president. As per Mongolian legend, one of the Buddhist monks from India had carried sacred water from river Ganga and poured it into a lake which led to this lake being named ‘Ganganuur’.
India-Mongolia Business Forum held in New Delhi:
FICCI organized “Joint Business Meeting in honour Mr Khaltmaagiin Battulga, President of Mongolia” with other industry chambers in New Delhi. The meet was addressed by Mr Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel, Government of India. During the business forum two MoUs were signed which are as follows:
- The MoU between Mongol Em Impex Concern LLC and Cadila Pharmaceuticals will establish a new pharma manufacturing facility in Mongolia.
- The second agreement was between Lovely Professional University and Governor’s office of Mongolia for cooperation in education.
Important events during the visit:
- Delegation level talks: The Mongolian president met his Indian counterpart Shri Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister(PM) Shri Narendra Modi, Vice president Venkaiah Naidu and also the Minister of State(MoS) for External Affairs(EA) V. Muraleedharan at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. Both sides decided to hold the next meeting of the India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation in New Delhi in the future. Indian President stated both nations as ‘spiritual neighbours’ along with ‘strategic partners’.
- 65th anniversary of India-Mongolia ties in 2020: The year 2020 will mark the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Mongolia. In this regard, Government of India would organize a “Festival of India” in Mongolia in 2020 to celebrate this historic occasion.
- Visa-on-arrival scheme by Mongolia: In reciprocation of India’s gesture in e-visa scheme exploration for short term travelers of Mongolia, the Mongolian govt. also announced a visa-on-arrival scheme for Indian short term travelers.
- LoC: On the request from Mongolia, India announced an additional 236 million dollars Line of Credit (LoC) for the ongoing Petrochemical Refinery Project of Mongolia. Previously India announced US(United States) $ 1 billion LoC for the Oil Refinery Project in Mongolia that would reduce the oil dependence of Mongolia with neighbouring countries and also contribute to economic development. Both sides decided to train engineers and technicians to be employed at the “Mongol Refinery Project” in India through Indian Government scholarship under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.
- Membership with ISA: Mongolia has shown interest in becoming a member of the International Solar Alliance(ISA) which is headquartered at Gurugram, Haryana to promote renewable energy and also support India’s candidature for the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) permanent membership.
- Preventing terror financing: Both the nations discussed terrorism issues and agreed to work on preventing terror financing.
- Indo pacific vision: Mongolia expressed its support to India’s “Indo-Pacific Vision” that aims to create an open, free and inclusive architecture in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Visit to Agra, Bodhgaya, Nalanda and Bengaluru: Battulga travelled to Bodhgaya in Bihar where he visited the Mahabodhi temple and was gifted a memento and a sacred scarf at the shrine. Later he visited Nalanda, Bihar and viewed the architecture there. After moving to Bengaluru he visited the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) headquartered in the state. He also visited the Taj Mahal at Agra.
About Mongolia:
Capital- Ulaanbaatar.
Currency- Mongolian tögrög.
Armed forces in exercises between India and Mongolia:
“Nomadic Elephant” in India and “Khaan Quest” in Mongolia
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